Monday, January 28, 2013

Many years ago, in the time of Blockbuster, once a week I would rent from the independent movie section at the video store. Last night I couldn't decide what to watch so I went to my dvd/bluray collection and counted 20 in from the end on one of the rows and that was my pick. This movie was one of my favorite discoveries when choosing from the independent section. This suspenseful drama is so well done and continues to be one of my favorite films. I must say though, the music was so well done for this film. It is by far the most creepy of any movie's musical score and I feel it just makes the movie what it is. If you haven't seen it, watch it!

Friday, January 25, 2013

Well finally, I was able to get out to see Django Unchained. I've been silently tortured watching people on blogs and Facebook seeing Django and writing these pathetic posts on how good it was. You cannot judge a Quentin Tarantino film in any way, good or bad, if you are not familiar with his work and the style of movies he does. I mean everyone is entitled to their opinion but I feel Mr. Tarantino deserves educated criticism where it is due.

I adore Tarantino films, except for Kill Bill, and any time a new one is out I cannot wait to see it. I will say that Django Unchained was...for a lack of a better word...epic! This brutal portrayal of the times of cotton picking and slavery was horrifying and yet paired with the satisfying demise of many white power plantation owners and their men. The casting was superbly done, I am so proud of Leonardo for joining the Tarantino family in such a controversial role. I have always respected and enjoyed DiCaprio as an actor, not in the 'I have the hots for him' way, but in the 'he really is an amazing actor with such diverse parts' way. This role was really deserving of a congratulations and great respect.

This film was an orgy of violence, love, drama and comedy...the perfect mix of each. I could just listen to Christoph Waltz talk for hours...that man...

Django Unchained will be joining the ranks of my favourite Tarantino films and my movie collection will have this addition alongside Pulp Fiction, Four Rooms, Inglorious Bastards, Sin City and Reservoir Dogs. Tarantino you rock...even though I actually kind of find you and your mind curious and quite terrifying.

I'm not normally a Starbucks drinker, however I've learned to stomach their mochas (with no whip and added hazelnut) as when I've been offered a Starbucks from a friend or coworker I'd never know what to order.Well yesterday I received a giftcard for some extra tech help I provided to one of our contractors. Stayed after my regular hours to help and they were obviously very thankful. Knowing today would be crazy I decided to swing by Starbucks on my way to work and use the giftcard before I lose it.I was reminded today that I am Starbucks inept. I go up to order, first off I forget to say 'grande' and order a medium. The girl at the till makes a point to say, "Oh you want a grande..." So I order my mocha with hazelnut and no whip. "How many pumps?" What do you mean how many pumps?! "Well would you like 4 of each syrup? Or 2 and 2?" Ummmm, I have no idea, lets do 2 and 2. Then I realize she keyed in toffeenut instead of hazelnut. When the person making it asked for clarification she said hazelnut, looks at the till then says, "No toffeenut." I was still distracted with the whole pump conversation and honestly had no clue what a toffeenut was so I decided to let it slide.Now that I am sitting at my desk sipping my "grande half sweet toffeenut mocha, no whip" I feel better. It's not bad, I believe the next time someone asks me if I want something from Starbucks I will look up this post and text them that exact line! I would seem so well-versed in the Starbucks lingo.

I just love the array of colors that you can find in eggs. I was raised using eggs from the farm and now that I am grown I will only buy free range farm eggs. The farmer I buy from currently has many different kinds of chickens which equals some interesting eggs. She feeds them non GMO organic feed and they run free around her dairy farm. I always enjoy opening the cartons to see the amazing colors inside.

I must point out that the egg on the left in this picture was actually green! The picture did not do it justice and I am surprised how washed out it is. Farm eggs are brighter in color (shell and yolk), better for you and the animal and I also find they taste better. My only complaint is they are a bitch to peel when hard-boiled!

I follow a few television series and without cable or satellite TV I am either playing a game on my PC, crocheting or lying in bed as I watch. Most of the time when watching a series or movie I'm sitting at my computer in front of my one monitor with the video playing tiny in the top left hand corner and my game window re-sized to allowed for the video to be seen. This always limits what I can play as I've noticed many games lag dramatically when watching anything in HD.

After thinking about it for too long, and having no room on my desk, I decided to add a second monitor. Now that school is done I was able to pack up the piles of paper and text books that have plagued my desk for the past 2 years, and added the small monitor I had lying around. With that being said now I just need to find time to actually use it and watch something!

I've always hated shrimp for some reason. Last year at a conference a peer talked me into trying the shrimp that was provided there. It was amazing. This shrimp was huge and tender...not rubbery and tough like the stuff I'm used to. It was not overly fishy and had a great dipping sauce to go along with it. So every now and then I step away from my disgust with shrimp to find some great ones to indulge in.

A shrimp ring was brought to game night...I'm pretty sure I ate most of it while dipping in the sour cream french onion dip I made for the chips. Mmmmm